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Groups or individuals who host public fishing tournaments can get them posted on our Lake Drive Marine Events Calendar.

It’s a free service of Michiana Outdoors News.

Our Events Calendar has become the No. 1 spot anglers visit when looking for open events on Michiana lakes. Get yours posted with us as soon as possible so anglers can plan ahead. It also helps groups avoid multiple tournament conflicts on a given lake.

Send your tournament information to stoutoutdoors@comcast.net. We cannot work from facebook links - we need your tournament information emailed!

We are primarily interested in events held in northern Indiana and southern Michigan although we will include tournaments scheduled outside that region if the circuit is based in northern Indiana/southern Michigan or if the circuit makes visits to our regional waters. Tournaments/circuits must be open to the public.

Schedules for the Events Calendar must include dates, entry fees, tournament hours, name/phone number of a tournament director contact, and ramp location (if the lake has more than one). We also include tournament logos for those circuits that include those in their submissions.

We’d like for tournament directors to submit results to us following each event. It definitely draws more interest in your events. Results should include top three finishers correctly spelled names, hometowns, winning weights and lures and/or patterns used. Result submissions that only have names will be rejected.

And finally, submissions with digital photos often get better play on the site and attract the most attention.

March 2023 LARE Invasive Aquatic Vegetation Management Grant AwardsMarch 2023 LARE Invasive Aquatic Vegetation Management Grant Awards

St. Croix Report

Chuck Mason with WalleyeChuck Mason with Walleye

Walleyes disperse after their spring spawning runs but still remain somewhat concentrated in fairly predictable locations. That’s good news for walleye anglers who know where to look. Once found, hungry post-spawn walleyes are unlikely to turn down a meal, further sweetening the deal for late-spring and early-summer anglers.

Chuck Mason of Ida, Michigan chases walleyes all year long. An ice and open-water tournament angler for nearly 20 years, Mason can be found on his home waters of the Detroit River, Lake St. Clair, and Western Lake Erie when not traveling on the Michigan Walleye Tour.

“You can catch walleyes in the Detroit River year ‘round,” Mason says. “Even though spawning is wrapped up, certainly May and even into early June you can still get on concentrations of fish in the river, but I like to follow the fish back down to Lake Erie during this period. There are a few areas where dredging spoils create a lot of humps and variability in depth that really seem to concentrate our post-spawn walleyes. One is an area known as ‘the humps’ off the river near Monroe, Michigan, and another known as ‘the dumping grounds’ out of Luna Pier.”

Mason typically employs four primary presentations for post-spawn walleyes, namely, casting hair jigs, pitching lipless crankbaits and Jigging Raps, vertical jigging, and trolling. “Depending on timing and water temperatures, you may want to be in one place over the other. “We start out snap-jigging hair jigs and ripping lipless baits on the Detroit river, then shift more to using blade baits further down out of the mouth on Lake Erie,” says Mason.

MDNR Report

Winter fish killWinter fish kill

After ice and snow cover melt on Michigan lakes, it may be more likely for people to discover dead fish or other aquatic animals. While such sights can be startling, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources reminds everyone that it is normal, since winter conditions can cause fish and other creatures such as turtles, frogs, toads and crayfish to die.

"Winterkill is the most common type of fish kill," said Gary Whelan, DNR Fisheries Division research manager. "As the season changes, it can be particularly common in shallow lakes, ponds, streams and canals. These kills are localized and typically do not affect the overall health of the fish populations or fishing quality."

Shallow lakes with excess aquatic vegetation and soft bottoms are more prone to this problem, particularly when a deep snowpack reduces sunlight for the plants. Canals in urban areas also are quite susceptible due to the large amounts of nutrient runoff and pollution from roads and lawns and septic systems that flow into these areas, especially from large storm events. 

View 2022 Fish of the Year winners below. Interested in competing this year? Find out how to participate.

Family Species Length (inches) Location (County) Angler
Black Bass Largemouth Bass 22.0 Loon Pit (Warrick) Matthew Kiefer
Smallmouth Bass 21.3 Tippecanoe River (Pulaski) Alex Deneau
Spotted Bass 14.5 Wabash River (Tippecanoe) Liu He
Sunfish Black Crappie 16.0 Elk Creek Lake (Washington) Ray Bateman
Bluegill 11.0 Private Pond (Newton) Anthony A Talarico Jr
Green Sunfish 8.8 Private Lake (Henry) Michele Porter
Hybrid Sunfish 12.0 Private Pond (Dubois) Sam Sermersheim
Pumpkinseed (tie) 9.3 Clear Lake (Steuben) Sally Pagorek
Pumpkinseed (tie) 9.3 St. Joseph River (Elkhart) Bruce Buteyn
Pumpkinseed (tie) 9.3 Lake Michigan (Lake) Anthony A Talarico Jr
Redear Sunfish 12.4 Private Lake (Putnam) Will Lloyd
Rock Bass 11.0 Tippecanoe River (White) Liu He
Warmouth 9.0 Clear Lake (Steuben) Roger Voirol
Catfish Brown Bullhead 17.0 Private Pond (Johnson) Gregory Zentz
Channel Catfish 33.0 Private Pond (Huntington) Dan Bickel
Perch Sauger 18.5 Wabash River (Tippecanoe) Liu He
Saugeye 23.0 Sullivan Lake (Sullivan) Wayne Witkowski
Walleye 30.0 Sylvan Lake (Noble) Kenneth Barden
Yellow Perch (tie) 14.0 St. Joseph River (Elkhart) Aaron Voirol
Yellow Perch (tie) 14.0 Lake Michigan (LaPorte) Greg Saylor
Trout/Salmon Brown Trout 25.0 Lake Michigan Sean Allwardt
Chinook Salmon 40.5 Lake Michigan (LaPorte) Kenny Barden
Coho Salmon 33.3 Lake Michigan (LaPorte) Jeff Brown
Lake Trout 36.5 Lake Michigan (Lake) Bryan G Odom
Lake Whitefish 22.0 Lake Michigan (LaPorte) Hogir Saeed
Rainbow Trout (tie) 19.0 Strip Pit (Greene) Steven Kellett
Rainbow Trout (tie) 19.0 Lake Gage (Steuben) Micheal Grime
Steelhead 32.0 Trail Creek (LaPorte) Liu He
True Bass Hybrid Striped Bass 30.0 Tippecanoe River (Carroll) Hao Wu
Striped Bass 15.5 Cecil M. Harden Lake (Parke) Liu He
White Bass 16.5 Tippecanoe River (Carroll) Liu He
Minnow Common Carp (tie) 30.0 Wabash River (Tippecanoe) Jonah Switzer
Common Carp (tie) 30.0 Wabash River (Tippecanoe) Liu He
Creek Chub 10.1 Crooked Creek (Porter) Max Odom
Emerald Shiner 3.4 Otter Creek (Vigo) Steven Kellett
Golden Shiner 10.3 Airline Lake (Greene) Travis Rowe
Grass Carp 30.5 Ohio River (Clark) Joe Johnson
Silver Chub 6.4 Ohio River (Clark) Joe Johnson
Striped Shiner 8.5 Fawn River (Steuben) Greg Enyart
Sucker Bigmouth Buffalo 24.0 Tippecanoe River (Carroll) Liu He
Black Buffalo 26.8 Kankakee River (Starke) Mark Holbrook
Blue Sucker 27.0 Tippecanoe River (Carroll) Liu He
Golden Redhorse 20.3 Kankakee River (Starke) Mark Holbrook
Northern Hogsucker 15.5 White River (Lawrence) Ron Anderson
Quillback 18.0 Tippecanoe River (Carroll) Liu He
River Carpsucker 17.0 Ohio River (Clark) Joe Johnson
Shorthead Redhorse 18.0 White River (Lawrence) Ron Anderson
Silver Redhorse 19.5 Ohio River (Clark) Joe Johnson
Smallmouth Buffalo 26.0 Tippecanoe River (Carroll) Liu He
White Sucker 20.8 Lake Michigan (LaPorte) Anthony A Talarico Jr
Other Gizzard Shad 18.0 Tippecanoe River (Carroll) Liu He
Goldeye 17.0 Wabash River (Tippecanoe) Liu He
Skipjack Herring 16.0 Wabash River (Tippecanoe) Liu He
Bowfin 30.0 Pine Lake (LaPorte) Ronald Ryba II
Freshwater Drum 23.5 Wabash River (Tippecanoe) Liu He
Longnose Gar 56.0 Aikman Creek (Daviess) Hayden Baker
Shortnose Gar 28.0 White River (Greene) Jeffrey Kellett
Blue Tilapia 17.5 Dowling Park (Lake) Eric Alegre
Mottled Sculpin 3.0 Big Blue River (Henry) Greg Porter
Shovelnose Sturgeon 31.0 Wabash River (Tippecanoe) Joe Johnson
 

IDNR Report

Each year anglers from around the state submit their biggest hook-and-line catches from Indiana waters hoping they will top the list for their species.

Winning entries for Fish of the Year are determined by the total length of the fish. Participants are required to submit information about their fish, including where they caught it and the bait they used. They must also include a photo documenting the measured length of the fish.

In 2022, 71 anglers submitted entries for 55 different species. Submissions included numerous entries for popular species such as largemouth bass, rainbow trout, and bluegill. Several lesser-known species also received submissions, including emerald shiner, golden shiner, and mottled sculpin.

To view the full list of winners, click here.

To learn more about how to participate in the Fish of the Year program, visit on.IN.gov/RecordFish.